Political Constitution of Colombia (1991)

The departmental assemblies, by means of ordinances, exercise the following powers:

To regulate the exercise of the functions and the provision of services for which the department is responsible.

To enact the regulations connected with the planning, economic and social development, financial support of and borrowing to the municipalities, tourism, transportation, the environment, public works, means of communication, and development of their border areas.

To adopt, in accordance with an Act, the plans and programs of economic and social development and public works, with the determination of investments and means that are considered necessary to promote their execution and to secure their completion.

To decree, in accordance with an Act, the taxes and levies necessary for the execution of the departmental functions.

To enact the organic rules on the departmental budget and the annual budget of revenues and expenditures.

To create and eliminate, subject to the requirements stipulated by statute, municipalities, segregate or aggregate municipal territories, and organize provinces.

To determine the structure of the departmental administration, the functions of their dependencies, the scales of remuneration appropriate to the various categories of employment; create the public institutions and industrial or commercial enterprises of the department, and authorize the formation of mixed [public-private] companies.

To issue policy directives on any matter that is not regulated by statute.

To authorize the Governor of the Department to make contracts, negotiate loans, transfer goods and exercise, temporarily, specific functions of those which correspond to the Departmental Assemblies.

To regulate, concurrently with the municipality, the areas of sports, education, and public health within the limits determined by statute.

To request reports on the exercise of their respective functions from the Controller General of the Department, the Cabinet Secretary, the chiefs of the administrative departments and the directors of the decentralized entities at the departmental level.

To fulfill the other functions assigned to them by the Constitution and the statute.

The plans and programs of development and public works shall be coordinated and integrated with the municipal, regional, and national plans and programs.

The ordinances referred to in subparagraphs 3, 5, and 7 of this article, those which decree investments, shares, or the transfer of departmental revenues and property, and those that create services for which the department is responsible or from whom the responsibility is transferred to may be enacted or amended only upon the initiative of the Governor.

To summon and invite the secretaries of the office of the Governor to attend the sessions of the assembly. The summons must be made not less than five days prior to a session and be formulated in the form of a written questionnaire. In case the secretaries do not attend, without an excuse accepted by the assembly, the latter may table a motion of censure. The secretaries must be heard at the session for which they were summoned, without prejudice to the possibility that the discussion is continued at subsequent sessions following a decision of the assembly. The discussion may not extend to other issues than those in the questionnaire and shall be placed at the top of the session’s agenda.

To table a motion of censure with respect to the secretaries of the office of the Governor for matters related to their official functions, or for ignoring the requests or summons of the assembly. The motion of censure must be tabled by one third of the members who make up the assembly. The vote shall take place between the third and 10th day following the end of the discussion, with a public hearing of the respective official. Approval of the motion shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the relevant body. Once the motion is approved, the official shall be relieved of his/her functions. If it is voted down, no new motion of censure may be proposed on the same matter unless it is supported by new facts. The resignation of the official against which the censure motion has been tabled does not prevent the latter from being approved in accordance with the provisions of this Article.